Trolley-pole arrester.



R. S. LILLIGO.

TROLLEY POLE ARRESTER.

APPLICATION FILED 001217, 1910.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

ul 4 I.

WITNESSES.

. I B y A TI'ORNE Y REGINALD S. LILLIGO, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

TRoLLEY-roLE ARRESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Die... 5,. 1911.

Application filed October 17, 1910. Serial No. 587,642.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known-that I, REGINALD S. LILLICO, a citizen of the United.States, residing at Seattle, in the; county of King and State ofWashington, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrolley-Pole Arresters, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to electric railway appliances and, moreparticularly, to that class of devices which are utilized for arrestingand retrieving trolleys when leaving theoverhead trucks-wiretherefor.

The object of the present invention, generally stated, is the provisionof devices for accomplishing the above mentioned service with despatchand in an effective manner.

With these endsin view, the invention consists in the novelconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts, as will behereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the rearend of an elec trio-car equipped with apparatus embodying my invention.Fig. 2 .is a fragmentary transverse vertical section of a casing withthe trolley rope controlling devices therein shown in inoperativecondition. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.1 2 with the trolley ropecontrolling devicesrendered operative. Fig. 4 is a cross sectional viewtaken through 4-4 of: Fig. 3. r

The reference numeral 5 designates a trolleypole carrying atits free enda grooved wheel 6 which is normally retained in operative engagementwith a trolley-wire 7 by means of a spring 8, or aplurality of suchsprings, and which tend to throw the pole and its Wheel upwardly whenthe wheel becomes disconnected from the trolley wire, as in the ordinaryform of construction.

Rigidly secured to the car body is a casing 9, preferably of a tubularform and arranged with its axis vertical, or nearly so. The upper end ofthe casing is open and at a short distance below the top there isprovided within the casing a ledge 10; .Fitted loosely for verticalmovement within the casing is a heavy body ll which, for convenience inmanufacturing and in the assembly of parts, "is desirably constructed oftwo parts which are joined at a plane, extending, preferably,diametrically through the body and united as by bolts 11. The weight ofthis body is somewhat greater than necessary to be applied to. thetrolley rope 21 to overcome the power ofthe above I mentioned spring.Said body is provided wlth an axial bore12extending from both its topand bottom end; to a medially located chamber 13.- At diametricallyopposite sides of said chamber are openings 14 to accommodate a pair ofdogs 15 and 15" which are pivotally connected to said body by pins. 16arranged so that theupper surfaces of the dogs will at all times contactwith the tops of the respective openings. Said dogs are each provided attheir outer end with a bill 17 which, upon being swung into thepositions in which they are represented in Figs.

3 and .4, will engage the casingledge 10 and thereby serve as a supportfor they body 11. Each of said dogs is provided with an inwardlyextending arm, 18 and 18 which, as represented in Fig. 4, are offset;with respect to their outer ends. Within the bore 12: of said body arethe ends 19 of a tubethrough which passes loosely the trolley-rope 21which, as customary, is fastened from one end to the trolley-pole andhas, desirably, secured to its lower, or pendent, end a weight 22 (Fig.2,) which is sufficiently heavy to prevent any slack occurring in therope. This weight is, however, not essential to the operation of theinvention, as any devices, such as a knot for example, which willprevent the rope being withdrawn from the sleeve, will suflice to causethe rope to perform its duty, though the appended weight has proved mostsatisfactory. Said tube, or sleeve as it will behereinafter denominated,is provided with two spaced collars23 nd 24. Between said collars I showthe sleeve as being of less diameter than the end portions thereof tovafford room for the oscillatoiy movements of the dog-arms 18 and 18.when they are actuated by either of the collars 23 or 24. The body 11 isprovided with a handle 25 of a length to extend above the casing whenthe body is inposition whereat it may be supported by the ledge 10;through the ofiices of said dogs.

26 are'screws extending into the casing to prevent the body being drawnfrom the casing.

The operation of the invention is as fol lows: Assuming that the body 11is sustained by the dogs 15 and 15, being supported upon the, casingledge 10, as illustrated ig. 3. Under such conditions and with thetrolley-wheel tracking against. the

underside of the trolley-wire 7 the trolleyrope 21, subject to therelatively slight pull exerted by the weight 22, is free to move up ordown through the sleeve to compensate for the movements occurring to thetrolleypole as when the car is going about a curved portion of itstrack. In the event of the trolley-wheel leaving the trolley-wire, thepower of the spring 8 asserts itself to tilt the pole 5 upwardlyresulting in the trolleyrope 21 being correspondingly drawn through thesleeve until the lower end of the latter is struck by the weight 22.Through the force of the impact, the sleeve is thereby forced upwardlyto deliver through the agency of the sleeve-collar 24 tilting motion tothe dog arms 18 and 18' and thereby retract their bills 17 from thecasing ledge 10 concurrently with a slight uplift of the body 11, whenthe several parts will be in the relations in which they are shown inFig. 2. The body 11 being now unsupported exerts through its weight adownward pull upon the trolley-rope to cause the forcible lowering ofthe trolleypole into the dotted line position a in Fig. 1 and thusaccomplish the main object of the invention. To restore the devices intooperative condition, the body 11 is manually raised by pulling the bodyupwardly through the medium of the rope 21 until the body is at aboutthe elevation whereat it is shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the operator,while supporting the body by its handle 25 with one hand, manipulatesthe trolley-rope with the other hand to replace the wheel upon thetrolley-wire. The rope is then released and the sleeve being thus freed,is permitted to fall with the result that the collar 23 pushes down thedog arms 18 and 18 and accordingly protrudes the bills 17 of the dogs.By then releasing the handle, the weight of the body 11 will cause thesame to fall until arrested (see Fig. 3) by the interference of Ighe1casing-ledge with the protruding dogil s.

The invention is extremely simple, involving few parts and such as areemployed are unlikely to become deranged. By reason of the rapidity withwhich the various devices respond to the movement of the trolleypolethrough the unseating of the trolleywheel, the upward swing of the poleis quickly'terminated to be immediately followed by a rapid lowering ofthe same, the overhead wiring. which would otherwise be damaged by theuncontrolled pole is safeguarded from injury, or at least, to anyappreciable extent- Furthermore, the oper ating parts are readily resetand offer no obstacle to the replacing of a trolley-wheel to itstrack-wire.

What I claim as my invention, is.

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of atrolley-pole and a rope therefor provided with an enlarged end, of acasing secured to the car, a heavy body normally disconnected from therope, dogs carried by the body arranged to protrude therebeyond andcontact with the casing to suspend said body therein, and devicescarried by the body and made operable by the engagement therewith of theenlarged end of said rope to retract said dogs to allow said body tofall therewith carrying said rope and trolley pole.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a trolley pole, a trolley ropesecured at one of its ends to the trolley-pole and provided with anenlargement at its other end, a sleeve for said rope and provided withtwo spaced collars, a heavy body, a casing within which said bodyoperates, a ledge provided within the casing, dogs carried by said bodyand adapted to be engaged by one of the sleeve collars for protrudingthe dogs into position for engaging with the casing-ledge to supportsaid body when the sleeve is uninfiuenced by the rope, said dogs beingalso adapted to be engaged by the other of the said ledge when thesleeve is engaged by the enlargement in said rope in the upward movementof the latter to impart upward movement to the sleeve, and permit saidbody to fall and pull said rope downwardly therewith.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a trolley-pole, a trolley-ropesecured from one of its ends to the trolley-pole, a weight carried bythe other end of the rope, a sleeve for said rope and provided with twospaced collars, a heavy body, a casing within which said body operates,a ledge provided within the casing, dogs carried by said body andadapted to be engaged by one of the sleeve collars for protruding thedogs int-o position for engaging with the casing-ledge to support saidbody when the sleeve is uninfluenced by the rope, said dogs being alsoadapted to be engaged by the other of the sleeve collars for retractingthe dogs from said ledge when the rope is drawn upwardly through thesleeve to cause said weight engaging the latter to impart upwardmovements thereto, and thereupon permit said body to fall and pull saidrope downwardly therewith.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with atrolley-pole, a spring acting to swing said pole upwardly, atrolley-wire acting to limit the upward movement of the pole, and a ropeattached from one of its ends to said pole and formed or provided withan enlargement at its other end, of a casing provided upon its insidewith a ledge, a heavy body operating within the casing and normallydisconnected from said rope, dogs carried by said body and adapted forengaging the casing ledge, a sleeve for said rope and adapted to controlthe operation of the said dogs whereby the body to descend and therebyeffect the downlatter are normally caused to be in con- Ward movement ofthe pole in opposition to dition to engage said ledge, but When the saidspring.

sleeve is influenced by the engagement of REGINALD S. LILLICO. 5 theenlargement upon the rope contacting Witnesses:

With the sleeve to elevate the same, the dogs PIERRE BARNES,

are rendered inoperative to allow said heavy HORACE BARNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

